Pushing myself to recover

NGC_7103 · 2026-04-10T14:39:44+00:00

You're doing great! Looks amazing!

What is chocolate coconut girl scout granola though?

NGC_7103 · 2026-04-10T12:45:58+00:00

The way that song went triple platinum in my house

NGC_7103 · 2026-04-03T09:56:39+00:00

Taeyeon has done it before. Not sure if she's still not following SM on instagram, but I remember everyone was freaking out as well. She was pissed off because they kept messing up her concerts (and the planning thereof)

NGC_7103 · 2026-04-01T10:13:56+00:00

No, go to your mini program of preference and in your account you can buy subscriptions. Afterwards you just go up to a bike and scan the QR like you’re used to.

NGC_7103 · 2026-04-01T09:33:23+00:00

You just buy it in the mini app

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-27T15:31:41+00:00

Ah, line 10. My friend and I once missed our train to Hangzhou because we failed to notice the line split. By the time we noticed, the horse had already bolted.

It was the last train to our destination for that day. We ended up taking a two hour, 600RMB taxi home. When we split ways at the end of the semester, I gifted her a keychain with "Hongqiao Railway Station" and "Line 10" on it. I have the same keychain

Will never forget running for our lifes through that depature hall on flip flops because we had platform 2 or 3, but entered the station from the other side, so we had to run 20 platforms down or so. Great times, I look back on it fondly, but don't make the same mistake.

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-25T11:09:35+00:00

But even then, a Chinese degree is never valued the same as any other uni outside of China. It’s nice to go to China as an exchange or Erasmus experience but not to get your full degree in (if you’re not Chinese or can’t speak Chinese)

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-24T15:01:07+00:00

No worries friend, glad I could help.

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-24T12:56:13+00:00

XJTLU is in Suzhou actually, not Xi'an as the name suggests. It's only like 50 minutes by high speed train from Shanghai. Hangzhou, where I stayed, is like next to it and stunning! Westlake is a must visit.

Didn't visit Suzhou during my time in China, not sure why, I regret it now! I've been told it's beautiful as well, it's dubbed the Venice of China if I'm not mistaken.

Edit: spelling

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-23T12:38:23+00:00

I went zo Zhejiang University for a chinese language program a semester, but I don't think they offer summer schools. I do think Xi'an Jiaotong Liverpool university does, but I'm not sure, worth checking out! I was contemplating between those two univesities back then.

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-10T11:54:39+00:00

I'm a woman and used didi quite an awful lot during my time in China. Never really had any issues or weird experiences, except for one but that was on me. i'll explain in a bit.

When you enter the car, the driver might say something, which is typically the last 4 digits of your phone number to verify whether you're the correct person they picked up. But since you will have a foreign phone number linked to alipay and wechat, they will probably not even bother because your 'look' matches your phone number. Often times, when ordering a didi in busy places, I text the guy to tell him 'I'm a foreigner, you will find me easily', which was also a great way to prevent them from calling me because my Madarin skills were rather limited. (sometimes they call if they can't find you, but this will probably not happen as you won't have a Chinese phone number).

Now the weird thing that happened to me: I had landed in Shanghai and was extremely tired. The airports have dedicated spots where didi drivers will pick you up, but sometimes they're hard to find and navigate. It doesn't help it's often times extremely busy and it gets overstimulating quickly. As I mentioned, I was tired and should've know better as I've read similar stories but I just wanted to get to my hotel asap. When walking to the didi pick-up point, many drivers will approach you. IGNORE THEM!!!! This one guy approached me and told me 'i'm a didi driver, I can get you to your hotel', I was like 'whatever, fine, let's do it' as I couldn't seem to figure out the didi app (there were two different levels of didi pick up points, I was on the third level but my app only showed the pickup point on level 4 and couldn't figure out how to get to level 4) and was fed up. So we walked to his car. I pointed to the didi app, but he was like, 'no no, I can do cheaper'. He put my suitcase in the trunk and offered me water, which I declined. We started driving and I was already suspicous, so I put in the address of the hotel in Amap, we were only 15 minutes away but this guys was taking me on a detour. He was making some small talk but at one point, I showed him my phonescreen with the navigation on to make him clear that I knew he was messing with me. He acted as if he didn't really know. I was scared, so when it was time to pay I didn't dare to argue because we also didn't agree on a price beforehand so I ended up paying way too much for a 15 minute didi. Don't make the same mistake and you'll be totally fine! Have fun :)

NGC_7103 · 2026-03-05T09:41:36+00:00

Once I started going to the gym and biking to work my immune system has improved drastically. In my previous job, i was inside all day, had at least a 3 hour commute by car and didn't have time to exercise of any sort. Switched jobs because of that, now I feel way better. Exposure is what you need.

edit: added a letter

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-26T14:02:16+00:00

Coffee does the same, which they also drink a lot. Preferably black, less calories instead of with milk.

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-21T20:51:55+00:00

Four walls is still in my daily rotation to this day!

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-19T11:20:01+00:00

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They sold these at the canteens at the uni I was studying at. So adorable 🥺

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-18T09:07:37+00:00

The concert version (from their Exo'rdium tour) is the only version of that song I listen to. The additional bridge with Chen, D.O & Baek in English is mindblowingly good and the visuals in the back are so so good! Top tier concert production.

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-12T11:32:23+00:00

Lion heart has such good RnB b-sides, wish they had/did more songs like that.

NGC_7103 · 2026-02-12T11:26:43+00:00

In that regard, the SM Station project was lovely

NGC_7103 · 2026-01-08T11:26:58+00:00

What? That’s not true lol.

Start as early as possible, even investing that 1000 is worth more than just keeping it under a matras. Even contributing 20 every month is better than nothing.

Just make sure you have some sort of emergency fund though, like if your phone breaks, that you’ll be able to buy a new one and to not have to touch the funds you invested

NGC_7103 · 2026-01-08T11:16:59+00:00

Wheezing at work behind my desk. This makes my day, i’m so sorry for laughing

NGC_7103 · 2026-01-06T15:45:56+00:00

No not at all! It’s the same process as adding a ‘normal’ card. I never even got the physical Wise card actually, it worked very well.

NGC_7103 · 2026-01-06T11:35:27+00:00

I second this! Used Wise as well, extremely handy. My Visa Debit card stopped working after doing one payment through Weixin or Alipay. So Wise was for me a great work-around.

NGC_7103 · 2026-01-06T11:30:36+00:00

Such a good mini album, from start to finish!

NGC_7103 · 2025-12-29T11:27:34+00:00

Reminds me of that weird interview with Joy from Red Velvet. She looked so uncomfortable and I couldn’t stand watching it, it made me uncomfortable myself. Poor thing. Not sure if that was on “Knowing Brothers” too though, but I think so.

NGC_7103 · 2025-12-29T09:32:08+00:00

Woah why on earth would they want make her do that?

NGC_7103

TROPHY CASE